In order to reduce energy consumption, consumers are increasingly implementing energy-saving devices in their load control environments, such as in the home, the office, and/or the like. These energy-saving devices include both electrical loads and load control devices. Common electrical loads that are being implemented by consumers today are energy-saving lighting loads. For example, the use of high-efficiency light sources (e.g., gas discharge lamps, such as compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) and light-emitting diode (LED) light sources) is increasing, while the use of low-efficiency light sources (e.g., incandescent lamps or halogen lamps) is decreasing. Particularly, many consumers are replacing older screw-in incandescent lamps with screw-in high-efficiency lamps to provide a quick path to reducing energy consumption. Common electrical load control devices that are being implemented by consumers are electrical motorized window shades. These motorized window shades help save energy by controlling the amount of natural light in a room, as well as the amount of heat that comes in or goes out of the room.
As many energy-efficient devices are on the market, consumers may have difficulty determining which devices to implement in their load control environments. For example, many consumers may have difficulty determining the load or load control device that may provide the greatest cost savings in the shortest period of time. As such, it may be beneficial to provide cost savings information associated with electrical loads and/or load control devices, or other information that may assist a consumer in choosing the loads and/or load control devices to implement in their load control environments.
Once an energy-efficient load or load control device has been installed, consumers often wonder if it was worth the price of purchase. Specifically, consumers are wondering if the energy-saving load or load control device is actually saving energy and/or cost and, if so, how much it is saving them. Thus, it would also be beneficial to provide after-installation savings information to the consumer.